Audix D6

Been playing guitar and drums for over 30 years, live and studio. Live sound doesn't have to be ear shatteringly loud, just big and clean, was lucky enough to have seen Steely Dan in London in July - Now that's what I call Live Sound.

I bought an AKG D112 last year, and was never terribly happy with the sound although the drum is well tuned and sounds good on its own, so got a D6 because of the reviews. I have to agree with other reviewers here that the D6 sounds great straight out of the box. First outing was an outdoor gig; We put it through the 6" hole in the front head and placed it about 2" from the beater and Wow, great sound with no EQ whatsoever. Tight and punchy with controlled lows. A really good Bass Drum Mic

Songwriting/performer for 12 years. Producing for 7 years. Produced everything from heavy metal, jazz, rap, pop, woship, to classical. I use Motu hardware on an intel mac 24". I use krk v6 for reference monitors.

Overall Rating 10
Dynamic mic. Using for Floor Toms. 1-2" right above outer rim at 45 degrees. On isolated stand. NOT TOM MOUNTED MIC STAND. I like the simplicity of the mic. Feels well built. (i'm a mechanical enginner) I would highly recommend this for floor toms. A little too deep for rack toms. Never used on kick yet

Working musician, live sound and recording for almost 30 years

I got this mic back when it was still a little of an "inside secret" and have never looked back as far as kick drum is concerned. It's not that it will necessarily result in the "best" kick drum sound as there are just too many drums and drummers...not to mention styles of music for that to ever be the case. What's uncanny about this mic is it's ability to seemingly always produce a really good sound with little to no effort. Not the least of that is the fact that you needn't hunt for the "sweet spot" to get a good sound, any of several different typical positions will all yield different but equally good sounds. In other words...place the mic, turn up the channel gain and let it roll. Pricing is certainly an appealing aspect of this mic...but it really does the job regardless, and certainly as well or better than mics that not only cost much more...but it does it with much less fiddling than about all. This mic is about as close to a "plug and play" solution for kick drum as you can get. Again...that's not to say this will blow away any other mic for kick drum, or that multimic solutions and other more complex methods won't be superior some of the time. If you want consistently really good sound for kick drum with little fuss at a great price, this is it...period.

Been playing guitar for 25+ years having played in plenty of bands over the years. I have about 1 year of professional recording experience having produced two albums in the process along with a bunch of other little stuff. Also have a decent amount of live mixing experience with mostly rock bands. My philosophy with recording or any type of live sound is every instrument has its place. You are shoving several instruments with several channels into a left and a right channel. If all the frequencies walk on each other you get mud and mud is bad.

I did a lot of research looking for the best kick drum mic before I bought this and feel I found a winner. A decent amount of research was done right here too so I am just reinforcing what has been said. I looked at the Sennheiser 901 and AKG D112.. sorry to say I don't have much experience with either, but having read the reviews here I don't feel they would deliver the rock/metal kick drum sound I was looking for.

This mic made the horrible kick drum at my church sound decent. And having just gotten back from a major week long gig playing with a drummer with a nice set of drums, all I can say is this mic RULED! It doesn't take much fiddling either to get it to sound good. I know a lot of people here say you can run the mic flat. You can, but for my live application a nice boost in the low end (40-50 hz) going through a set of EV I-25 speakers and a sub gave a tight punchy thump in your gut. Then if you dial in a little 4k htz you get a nice "click" off the hammer that gives a nice polished professional sound.

It goes without saying this mic is supurb for any rock/metal application. Is it good for other styles of music? I would say so.. I feel the sound can be sculpted plenty with correct mic placement and someone that truly knows how to turn the EQ knobs. Maybe not for some jazz applications as I think there are warmer kick mics out there, but if this was lost or stolen I would replace in a heartbeat.

I've been making music for about 15 years playing guitars and doing vocals for numerous rockbands. Been engineering live and studio for about the same amount of time. Currently working as a freelance producer/engineer.

This mic rocks my world. It's so much easier to work with than the other popular kick mics out there (d112, shures). It works especially well for metal type kicks, very nice and tight. I've even used it to mic up a guitar cabinet for a very detuned sludgy metal sound and got a sound that I was very happy with. And yes... no eq in the kick. it's that easy. Seems to be built like a tank too. Aaah ... i am lost for words.. i love this mic!

I play all styles professionally on a 1993 Premier Signia kit. I have recorded to tape and direct-to-drive. My current gig is with an 80s tribute band about 6 nights a month in the Denver Metro area. I use the mic for live playing only at this point.

I use the D-6 on my kick and my presence in the overall sound has never been better! No eq, no compression or other tweeking used. I put it on a stand and point it right at the beater about 3 inches off the batter side head, right where the instructions say. It's small, light, stays where it's put, and delivers a big sound with just the right amount of punch. Our sound guy told me it's the best investment I've made so far. I bought it after reading the promo literature and then asking around. I looked at the Shure, AKG, and Audio-Technica kick mics. They were either too big or too expensive, and I found this online for cheap. Hell yeah I recommend it!

The D6 is my live kick mic of choice. It's not as natural as the D4, but how often is natural what you are looking for? I prefer the feel of the Beta52, but the sound of the D6. If the kick is underdamped, the D6 needs less gating than the B52, which is often a big plus. (I'd take either over the D112 in most any case.) (I've never used the dual element AT - I'm afraid I might like it, and it's just too expensive.)

I ve been making music for about 8 years, and own a Mac G4, Protools 6.9 le system with a Digimax lite 8 channel Mic pre.. My primary listening equipment is 2- 8 inch powerd studio monitors and 2 switchable 15 inch stage monitors for comparison.. but i am anal about making new copies after every stage of recording and listening to it on every possible radio, stereo, etc avaliable .

I hace 2 audix D6's carcoid and it is the best mic for the price around hands down.. i've toured with big name recording artist ad we used a D6 when we played medium 2,000-10,000 seat venues.. it is a work horse and there is almost no EQing necessary.. no kidding it make s that much difference.. I chose this mic because i heard it in action, and it sounded great.... you can almost pick it out on recordings if you know what to listen for.. I love this mic because i like heavier music and it can get real "clicky" ie... that KORN bass drum sound... if you dont have alot of cash and want a great kick drum mic this is definatly it.. i ran out and bought a second one used just incase i lost one...

I'm a musician who's been recording since the 70s. Started with a TEAC 4-track and have accumulated a LOT of gear over the years. I have my own project studio which I used nowadays mainly for recording alternative rock bands. I'd been using a Sennheiser 421 for kick, liked it alright, but wanted to see if I could improve on the sound I was getting.

I like this mic. Stick it in the front hole of a kick drum, near the back head and it gets a nice whack with a balanced low end. A good rock sound with little or no EQ depending on the state of the drum itself. But I really was blow away when a guy came in with a kick that didn't have a hole in the front head. So I placed the D6 in back near to and pointed at the spot the beater hits. I also placed my 421 in front about a foot out from the head. Listening just to the D6 it was fine. I could have used it alone. But bringing up the 421 just blew me away. By itself, the 421 was way too boomy. But mixing the two singals together (421 out of phase) and using a high pass filter just a little to cut under 60 Hz on the 421 gave me a sound to die for. The D6 gives the full range balanced power to the kick (no EQ needed) and the 421 yields the low down boom. This is a great marriage of two very good mics. If I was recording rap music, I wouldn't have cut anything of the 421.

Well I have had this mic now for about a year and have been extreamly impressed by it. A few of my friends had bought this mic before me and I was sick of borrowing their mic off them!
I am a home recording musician running a firepod onto laptop. I am a guitarest and drumer and find it incredably usefull to have some good mics hanging around the place!

One of the great things about the d-6 is that you just stick this puppy in or close to the whole, and bang, you have a killer bass drum sound!
Un-like a lot of bass drum mics where you feel like you have to have a small world war before you get a good sound out of them, this beauty needs to just get close to the bass drum and it sounds great!

Like other reviewers, this mic is surprisingly versitile and you will want acress to a couple of them. Just last week when I was micing up my mashall stack at church (yes it does happen!), we had a spare d-6 hanging around and stuck it straight on with a 57. The d-6 gives a lot of presence, especially if you are wanting to fill out a mix! I just found out that my brother who also recently bought a d-6 did the same thing to a boogy combo and had the same reaction! This mic has balls! (He also puts a Rode Classic on the speaker - and is a bit of a sounic manic but that is another story).
What I am trying to say is that this mic is fantastic. It is extreamly cost effective and great for both the professional or home enthusiast.
A lot of people think this mic is only good for rock. The fact is, if you after a fat,full tight sounding bass sound for any kind of music, you really can not walk past this mic. Great live and in the studio!

I've been drumming for 6 years. I do home recording. I use a firepod, and a bunch of other stuff.

i play a tama starclassic birch kit.

I use this for bass drum. have tried it on a floor tom as well.
so when i first bought it, i was like ..hmm this doesnt sound as good as i thought. So then i learned that i could turn the gain up on the firepod. Thats when the magic happend.

All i can say is, holy shit, buy this mic. Its exactly the clicky big bass drum sound i was looking for. With some compression its even better. i've never tried a d112 or a beta because from reading abou tthis mic and past experience with audix i found it pointless to try those

Floor tom, very deeeeeeeeep. i wish i had two so that i could actually use it for floor tom.

FOR AUDIO SAMPLES EMAIL ME

I've been playing drums for well over 20 years, and have had a home recording studio for a couple years (Digi 002R) where I tinker with a bit of everything...

I have an AKG D112 that I've owned for almost 20 years now. It has been my main studio kick mic, and I've used them live too. I've been recording with it lately and have had to apply a lot of EQ to get the sound I wanted (and that's after repeatedly trying different mic positioning). BTW, Kick = Pearl MRX 16x22 with Evans EMAD and Pearl logo head with 5" hole. Evans AF patch on batter head.

I bought the Audix D6, placed it inside the center of my kick and WOW it was great the very first time. This is THE kick mic to get for a solid rock/pop/country/fusion kick sound without a lot of fuss. I will probably be getting one for live use as well.

Been making music for 10 years, have been recording demos for all the bands that i've been in for the last 5. I mostly use a Roland vs-880ex to record and then mix/master on my computer with cubase and sound forge. My primary listening equipement is my Kenwood surround system and my Sony MDR-V900 headphones.

This mic is awesome for rock or extremely heavy music. Its super low and has one hell of a click. If you think an AKG D112 is too woofy and doesn't pick up enough below 100hz, then this is the mic for you. Having said that I would never use this mic for anything light... ever. Go get an EV RE20, Beyerdynamic M88 or something else for that.

I have been a recording artist for the past 20 years in Brazil, South America (though seven of them spent in New York). Though I have several albums under my belt, both as an artist and producer, only recently, with the advent of digital recording, I could put a full blown studio together. I use a Mac G4 733 with a 002 Rack running Protools. My main mic pre is the Avalon 737, with a Digimax for toms and Focusrite pres for the rest (when recording live). My monitors are NS-10's powered by a Hafler power amp. When you start putting mics in front of things yourself (something I have been only doing for two years now), you suddenly realize how every detail affects the recording chain. No different when I compared the recently purchased Audix D6 to an AKG D112.

Designed for low-frequency reproduction, this dynamic microphone is made of solid aluminum with a cardioid pickup pattern. It is a small mic compared to other bass drum mics, and the frequency response is 30Hz - 15kHz, with 144dB max SPL, so it can handle any amount of low end pressure. There are no pads on mics like these, but with those specs you won't need it, unless you are planning to capture the sound of the Big Bang. According to the manual, the polar pattern isn't so tight, so minute adjustments won't make that much of a difference. That seemed to be the case when tested, you don't need to adjust it that much!

This one was bought for bass drum miking only (and the occasional bass amp or floor tom) and now I know I will HAVE to get another. I usually mike bass drums with the mic either in the hole right against the opposite head, as if touching the head (if there wasn't a hole) in order to get the woody sound of a massive maple shell. But sometimes I mic a few inches off axis right smack on the beater (still inside the shell of course) depending on the band.

I was never really happy with the D112 (I own 2) using the other one for a floor tom, when a Sennheiser 421 couldn't pull it off. Even with the Avalon 737 mic pre, it had this hollow midrange mud which made me have to EQ the hell out of it to get it to sound straight, sometimes with great results. But since my studio is very transparent, I never liked to have to depend on EQ to track. Something had to change. When I saw the ad and the user comments on the D6, I decided to give it a try. Being relatively new to the market, there weren't many reviews on the D6. Remember, I am in Brazil, it's not like I can subway up to 48th street and try it in Manny's or Sam Ash. I have bought blind before (a pair of Audio Technica 4041 for overall's were bought like that, and I am really happy with them), so why not? 200 bucks is OK.

I set up a recording session, actually a pre production session just to see if a few songs would work, and the only kit available was a lame Mapex middle to low end kit, with a 22 inch drum head that was actually torn about an inch, two inches away from the rim. Since this demo was only to check final arrangements prior to an album, I didn't care. I put the usual D112 inside about 15 inches from the beater slightly off axis and fired up the Avalon. No compression, but more that usual EQ made it sound pretty good, inspite of it being a Mapex, with a torn bass drum head. The blend with the overall 4041's sounded powerful, and for a drum sound put together in 5 minutes, it sounded OK (I usually record with top of the line rented kits, with a drum tech on hand, with a whole entire day to tweak...). Laid a few beats, then I changed the D112 for the D6. Went back into the control room not knowing what to expect, but anything better than that hollow midrange would be welcome. I think you can deduce by now that I was floored. My jaw dropped to 15 Hz! Amazing, just the way a bass drum should sound. Thick, defined, powerful. Also, it rejects background leakage much better than a D112, so I didn't even have to "tunnel" the bass drums with thick blankets. It was like a Bob Clearmountain sample! I could go on for pages... Now imagine if it was inside a DW, or a Pearl Master Custom? Got the picture, right? I will NEVER use a D112 again on bass drum, mark my words, and I will purchase another D6 just for the road for my live band. Actually I am selling one of the D112's!

Of course I recommend the D6 to others! If you are like me, really frustrated with your bass drum sound, or spending way to much time, or your best pre, to make it usable, LOOK NO MORE. I am a happy man and the bands I produce are happy too. Now I can think in ordering a Royer 122 for guitars...

Wow. Talk about easily the BEST drum kick mic out there under $1000.
This is an awesome product. Relitively small and lightweight, easy to place anywhere in or around the drum head, this mic is fast to set up. Mainly because it's not super critical about placement. But the sound is clean and pure. BARELY need to crack the EQ's. You could just not touch the EQ's and be fine AS IS with this mic. But I like to taylor it around the bass line a bit more

Great for Rock, punk and just anything that hits a drum fast and hard

This is a slam dunk, just put in place and set the level and it sounds great. I challege anyone to just put up another mic...no EQ...and have it sound better that the D6.

I have only had mine for two months, but its built like a tank.

Again, I dont think it will be a problem. Audix seems to stand behind this thing. If I have any problems, they said just send it back and the will fix it as long as I didn't run it over with a bus.